What's eating the slumping Cardinals?
Baseball Betting Lines
08/31/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tony La Russa hasn't managed many poor teams during his tenure with the St. Louis Cardinals.
In fact, the Cardinals have missed the playoffs only six times since La Russa took over the ballclub back in 1996, a pretty solid batting average.
But something is wrong with the current state of this franchise, which arguably has two of the best right-handers in the game and an MVP first baseman any manager would salivate over.
So why are the Cardinals caught in a tailspin and fading from the playoff picture faster than an Adam Wainwright fastball?
Nobody knows for sure.
Pitching actually has been a sore spot lately for the defending National League Central champions, with Wainwright shouldering some of the blame. A candidate for the league's Cy Young Award this season, Wainwright has lost three straight starts. Though he could have become the only pitcher in the majors with 20 wins this season, Wainwright is stuck on 17.
Former NL Cy Young honoree Chris Carpenter is the other right-handed ace in the rotation. His play has been admirable recently with five wins in his last six decisions, and Carpenter will try to get the Cardinals back to respectability Tuesday night against Houston.
Newcomer Jake Westbrook, however, has yet to impress his new employer and, like Wainwright, is mired in a three-start skid. He is only 1-3 in six starts since coming over from Cleveland, but pitched well in Monday's 3-0 loss to the Astros. Kyle Lohse has been dreadful and Jaime Garcia is one of the few bright spots on the staff. Garcia is third on the team in wins (12).
The Cardinals, though, are more worried about the top three hurlers getting back on track, especially in the midst of their longest road trip of the season. They opened the swing by losing two of three in Pittsburgh, followed by three losses in four games at Washington. St. Louis was on the losing end in the opener of a three-game skid in Houston last night.
"It's been a tough road trip," Westbrook noted on the team's site. "We need to figure things out."
Those sentiments from Westbrook couldn't be more obvious after producing only two hits in last night's loss. St. Louis made Astros left-hander J.A. Happ look like Steve Carlton out on the hill, as the southpaw walked only one batter, and of his 114 pitches, 79 went for strikes.
Prior to getting embarrassed by Happ, the Cardinals displayed a sign of team bonding by shaving their heads. The show of allegiance didn't pay off, but there are still plenty of games left on the 2010 schedule.
St. Louis is currently three games behind Philadelphia for the wild card lead and six games in back of NL Central-rival Cincinnati for the top spot in the division standings. Owning a 28-37 record away from Busch Stadium hasn't helped the cause much, and neither will upcoming matchups with the Reds, Brewers, Braves, Cubs and Padres.
Milwaukee and Chicago have already planned early vacations, but the two clubs also reside in the NL Central and have plenty of knowledge and experience on how to make life even more miserable for the Cardinals.
If the Cardinals, led by slugger Albert Pujols, continue to fall flat on their faces, perhaps a boost in payroll will be in order for 2011. Pujols, however, is set to earn a salary large enough to feed a small country, and that could limit St. Louis in its efforts to get back on course. It would be simply foolish not to give Pujols what he wants, however. Heck, the Cardinals could give him part ownership for all of the money he's put into the front office's pockets.
St. Louis Sr. Vice President and General Manager John Mozeliak, a beneficiary of the slugger's talents, has made some moves to maintain a formidable squad, including the addition of Matt Holliday, who inked a gigantic contract in the offseason. Holliday's $120 million contract is the richest in club history, surpassing reigning NL MVP Pujols' seven-year, $100 million pact inked before the 2005 season.
With more than $200 million squirreled away on just two players, reconstructing a team to its days of dominance may take longer than expected.
If the Cardinals miss the playoffs, Mozeliak will have some extra time to form a new plan.
Birmingham, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Birmingham signed three players on the final day of the transfer window on Tuesday, adding Jean Beausejour, Alexander Hleb and Martin Jiranek. Chile international Beausejour was acquired from Club Amer
<< Quail Hollow gets 2017 PGA Championship
Charlotte, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte has been
awarded the 2017 PGA Championship.
The course, featuring one of the toughest three-hole finishes in golf, has
hosted a popular PGA Tour event since 2003.
I
<< Jags place rookie D'Anthony Smith on IR
Jacksonville, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Jacksonville Jaguars placed rookie
defensive tackle D'Anthony Smith on injured reserve Tuesday.
Smith, a third-round pick out of Louisiana Tech, will miss the entire 2010
season because of an A
<< Tottenham acquires goalie Pletikosa on loan
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tottenham acquired Croatia goalkeeper Stipe
Pletikosa on a season-long loan from Spartak Moscow on Tuesday.
Pletikosa, 31, has played 80 matches for Croatia. He was on Croatia's 2002 and
2006 World Cup team
<< New York Giants 2010 Season Preview
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Memories are short in New York, and the city's sports
figures and teams are often judged more on present performance than on past
accomplishments. It's a train of thought Tom Coughlin can certainly relate to.
Despite havin
Wolverhampton, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wolverhampton signed striker Marcus Bent from Birmingham on Tuesday on a four-month loan deal. Bent, 32, spent parts of last season on loan at Middlesbrough and Queens Park Rangers. Wolverhampton a
PGA Tour suspends rule that led to Furyk DQ >>
Ponte Vedra Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The PGA Tour has suspended the rule
that led to Jim Furyk's disqualification from The Barclays last week.
Furyk was kept from the first playoffs event in New Jersey because he
overslept Wed
Stoke re-signs Diao to two-year deal >>
Stoke-on-Trent, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Stoke City re-signed midfielder
Salif Diao on Tuesday, two months after the Senegal international's previous
contract expired.
Diao, 33, rejected Stoke's initial offer earlier this summer, bu
Canada loses to France at Worlds >>
Izmir, Turkey (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nicolas Batum scored 24 points to power
France to a 68-63 win over Canada at the 2010 FIBA World Championship.
Batum, who plays for the Portland Trail Blazers, made 8-of-14 shots and
grabbed seve
Bucs part ways with Derrick Ward >>
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have released running
back Derrick Ward, who spent just one unsuccessful season with the club after
signing as a free agent in the spring of 2009.
Ward had a breakout 2008 campaign w
Football Betting: Defensive Rookie of the Year Awards
Oddsmakers have released the odds for the 2009 AP NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Award and Seattle Seahawks linebacker Aaron Curry has been made the opening favorite.
Seattle took Curry with the fourth overall pick in April's NFL draft and plan on inserting him into its starting lineup right away. The Hawks traded linebacker Julian Peterson in the offseason, so Curry is expected to have a significant role in Seattle's defense next year and that's one of the primary reasons he is the favorite to win the NFL ROY Award.
Oddsmakers from online sportsbook MySportsbook.com have made Curry a 5/1 favorite to win this year's NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Award. Given that he was the best defensive prospect in this year's draft and how he'll have plenty of opportunities to make plays in '09, Curry offers a ton of value at 5/1.
Another thing working for Curry is the position he plays. A linebacker has won the defensive ROY award six straight times and eight of the last nine years. Jerod Mayo, Patrick Willis, DeMeco Ryans, Shawne Merriman, Jonathan Vilma, Terrell Suggs, Kendrell Bell and Brian Urlacher were the most recent linebackers to take home the award.
Following Curry at 5/1 are Tyson Jackson (Chiefs) at 7/1, James Laurinaitas (Rams) at 8/1, Brian Orakpo (Redskins) at 10/1, Rey Maualuga (Bengals) at 10/1 and Jerry Peria (Falcons) at 10/1.
All the players mentioned above are expected to start for their respective teams, but Jackson and Peria are going to have a tough time being recognized on a national level given they're both defensive linemen. D-linemen rarely put up the numbers that it takes to win an individual award like the ROY.
A couple of players with some value are Clay Matthews (Packers) at 12/1 and Larry English (Chargers) at 15/1. Matthews is expected to start at outside linebacker in Green Bay's new 3-4 defense and could rack up a ton of tackles. English, who was an impressive player at Northern Illinois, is expected to be a situational pass rusher for the Chargers and could rack up a ton of sacks.
For complete odds on the 2009 AP NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Award, see below. And for complete odds for the 2009 AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Award, click the link provided.
2009 AP NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Award
Robert Ayers (DEN) 12/1
Ron Brace (NE) 25/1
Everette Brown (CAR) 16/1
Darius Butler (NE) 40/1
Patrick Chung (NE) 30/1
Aaron Curry (SEA) 5/1
Brian Cushing (HOU) 12/1
Vontae Davis (MIA) 30/1
Louis Delmas (DET) 30/1
Larry English (SD) 15/1
Evander Hood (PIT) 25/1
Tyson Jackson (KC) 7/1
Malcolm Jenkins (NO) 25/1
Paul Kruger (BAL) 50/1
James Laurinaitas (STL) 8/1
Sen'Derrick Marks (TEN) 20/1
Clay Matthews (GB) 12/1
Aaron Maybin (BUF) 15/1
Rey Maualuga (CIN) 10/1
Roy Miller (TB) 20/1
Michael Mitchell (OAK) 45/1
Fili Moala (IND) 30/1
Brian Orakpo (WAS) 10/1
Jerry Peria (ATL) 10/1
B J Raji (GB) 7/1
Clint Sintim (NYG) 35/1
Alphonso Smith (DEN) 40/1
David Verkune (CLE) 20/1
Jason Williams (DAL) 30/1
Field (Any Other Player) 6/1
To visit this internet sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.